AFC Challenge Cup 2008
| AFC Challenge Cup 2008 | |
|---|---|
| AFC Challenge Cup 2008 ™ | |
|
|
| Number of nations | 8 (of 20 applicants) |
| winner | India (1st title) |
| venue | India |
| Opening game | July 30, 2008 |
| Endgame | August 13, 2008 |
| Games | 16 |
| Gates | 41 (⌀: 2.56 per game) |
| Top scorer |
 Pak Song-chol (6 goals)
|
| Best player |
 Baichung Bhutia
|
The finals of the second AFC Challenge Cup took place from July 30th to August 13th, 2008 in India . Eight national teams, classified by the Asian Football Association as “developing countries” (English: emerging nations), competed against each other first in group games and then in qualifying games. Originally the final was supposed to take place in Hyderabad on August 10th, but due to the poor conditions, August 13th was avoided. Furthermore, the final and the game for third place were held in New Delhi .
In addition to determining the AFC Challenge Cup winner, the tournament was also part of the qualification for the 2011 Asian Cup , as the winner of this tournament automatically qualifies for the finals in Qatar .
Host India won the final against defending champions Tajikistan 4-1 and thus qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup. The team from North Korea won third place after beating Myanmar 4-0 .
With Pak Song-chol the East Asians also provided the tournament's top scorer, the midfielder scored six goals in five games. The Indian captain Baichung Bhutia was chosen as the best player of the tournament , and the host also received the Fair Play Award.
Organization of the tournament
Taiwan was originally intended to be the venue for the final round, but at the end of November 2007 the Asian Association withdrew the country's hosting rights because the venues did not meet the desired criteria. Mainly because the Chungshan Soccer Stadium , the only soccer stadium in the country, was to be closed on July 1st, 2008 to function as an exhibition venue. In the meantime the AFC considered holding the tournament in Thailand in May 2008 , but this idea was rejected again.
The Indian Football Association agreed to host the final round of the tournament. In January 2008 India was confirmed as the host of the AFC Challenge Cup and the start of the finals was postponed from March 1 to July 30, 2008. The cities of Delhi and Hyderabad were available as hosts. After a few visits, the Asian Association decided on Hyderabad, capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh , to host the final round.
Venues
After visiting the facilities, Hyderabad was chosen to host the tournament and the games are to be played in two stadiums.
Most of the group matches, the two semi-finals, and originally the final, take place in the Gachibowli Stadium , which was built in 2005 . This stadium can seat up to 30,000 spectators and was one of the venues for the World Military Games in 2007.
In the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium , which was built from 1940 to 1967 and bears the name of the former Indian Prime Minister , the two simultaneous games Afghanistan - Tajikistan and North Korea - Myanmar will be played. The game for third place should also take place there. The stadium, which holds 30,000 spectators, has so far mainly been used for cricket events. It was the first time that a football match was played there.
Originally, most of the games were supposed to take place in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, but due to the poor field conditions in this stadium, the games have been moved to the modern Gachbowli Stadium.
Even during the tournament, the poor pitch conditions in the two stadiums were criticized by both coaches and players. As the stadiums were unplayable on the day of the final, the Asian Association decided to postpone the final and the game for third place to August 13th. Furthermore, the two pairings will be played in the Ambedkar Stadium in the capital New Delhi .
qualification
→ See main article: AFC Challenge Cup 2008 / Qualification
In contrast to Bangladesh 2006, some changes were made to this edition. The teams from Myanmar, Turkmenistan and North Korea were able to take part for the first time. A qualification phase was also introduced for the first time, reducing the number of participants from 16 (2006) to eight in 2008.
Before the start of the tournament, it was decided that, in addition to hosts India, the teams from Turkmenistan, North Korea and Myanmar would qualify for the finals. The remaining 16 teams, including the defending champions Tajikistan, had to contest a qualifying round. The teams were divided into four groups of four teams each in a draw. The group winners qualified for the finals.
Sri Lanka was the first team to qualify, the South Asians secured the ticket after a 2-2 win against the hosts of Group A Chinese Taipei on April 6, 2008. Afghanistan qualified for the final round on May 9 and on the 17th This month Tajikistan followed, which only just qualified due to the better goal difference compared to the Philippines . Nepal secured the ticket on May 26, 2008. The Laos and Palestine teams withdrew their participation before the start of the qualifying games.
The group stage draw on June 9, 2008 at the Taj Deccan Hotel in Hyderabad resulted in the following groups:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 Turkmenistan
|
North Korea
|
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India
|
.svg){kind=small} Myanmar
|
.svg){kind=small} Afghanistan
|
 Nepal
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 Tajikistan
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 Sri Lanka
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Games and results
Preliminary round
Four teams each compete in two groups (A and B) in the championship system, ie each team plays once against each other team in the group. In the group stage, a win counts three, a draw counts one point, a defeat counts no points. In the table of the respective group, the points were added.
In the event of a tie between two teams, the table position and progress will be decided in the following order: the direct encounters between the teams concerned (higher number of points, goal difference, goals scored), goal difference and higher number of goals scored from all group matches and finally the lot.
Group A
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
India
|
4: 2 | 7th |
| 2 |
Tajikistan
|
5: 1 | 5 |
| 3 |
Turkmenistan
|
6: 2 | 4th |
| 4th |
Afghanistan
|
0:10 | 0 |
| July 30, 2008 | |||
| Turkmenistan | - | Tajikistan | 0-0 |
| July 30, 2008 | |||
| India | - | Afghanistan | 1: 0 (0: 0) |
| August 1, 2008 | |||
| Tajikistan | - | India | 1: 1 (1: 0) |
| August 1, 2008 | |||
| Afghanistan | - | Turkmenistan | 0: 5 (0: 3) |
| August 3, 2008 | |||
| Turkmenistan | - | India | 1: 2 (0: 0) |
| August 3, 2008 | |||
| Afghanistan | - | Tajikistan | 0: 4 (0: 3) |
On the last day of the match, hosts India, defending champions Tajikistan and Turkmenistan played for a place in the semi-finals. India, which struggled in the two previous games, beat Turkmenistan's selection 2-1 thanks to a second goal from Baichung Bhutia . Tajikistan defeated Afghanistan 4-0 in the parallel game and passed their Central Asian neighbors. Afghanistan, overseen by German coach Klaus Stark , was able to maintain a 0-0 draw in their first game against India until the 92nd minute before the hosts scored the winning goal. In the other two games, the team was clearly inferior and had to travel home without points or goals.
Group B
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
North Korea
|
5-0 | 9 |
| 2 |
Myanmar
|
6: 2 | 6th |
| 3 |
Nepal
|
3: 4 | 3 |
| 4th |
Sri Lanka
|
1: 9 | 0 |
| July 31, 2008 | |||
| North Korea | - | Sri Lanka | 3: 0 (3: 0) |
| July 31, 2008 | |||
| Myanmar | - | Nepal | 3: 0 (0: 0) |
| August 2, 2008 | |||
| Sri Lanka | - | Myanmar | 1: 3 (0: 0) |
| August 2, 2008 | |||
| Nepal | - | North Korea | 0: 1 (0: 1) |
| August 4, 2008 | |||
| North Korea | - | Myanmar | 1: 0 (1: 0) |
| August 4, 2008 | |||
| Nepal | - | Sri Lanka | 3: 0 (1: 0) |
As expected, the North Korean team prevailed as group winners - although they started with a substitute team. The East Asians scored all goals in the first half and did not concede a single goal. Myanmar finished second after victories over Sri Lanka and Nepal and also made it to the semi-finals when it entered the tournament for the first time. Sri Lanka, which finished second in the previous edition, was eliminated after the second match day. The last game against Nepal was also clearly lost 3-0, so that the South Asians finished the group stage in last place.
Final round
In the semifinals and in the final, the knockout system is used . If the games in the final round are tied after the regular playing time of 90 minutes, there will be two extra times of 15 minutes and possibly (if there is still no winner) a penalty shoot-out .
Semifinals
Host India prevailed against neighboring Myanmar in an even game. Striker Sunil Chhetri scored the winning goal eight minutes from time. Tajikistan also won the other semi-final against the favored North Koreans 1-0, while North Korea had to end the game with nine players after being sent off twice in the last five minutes.
| August 7, 2008 | Hyderabad |
India - Myanmar
|
1: 0 (0: 0) |
| August 7, 2008 | Hyderabad |
North Korea - Tajikistan
|
0: 1 (0: 1) |
Game for third place
| August 13, 2008 | New Delhi |
Myanmar - North Korea
|
0: 4 (0: 3) |
final
In front of 10,000 spectators in New Delhi, the hosts India started offensive and scored the opening goal after nine minutes when Sunil Chhetri made a mistake by goalkeeper Tuychiev, who was unable to parry a header from NP Pradeep . Just 10 minutes later, the Indian team scored their second goal from captain Baichung Bhutia, who sent the ball into the net after a presentation by Samir Naik. In the 23rd minute, Chhetri increased to 3-0. The Tajiks were able to shorten to 1: 3 before the break, but their attacking efforts in the second round were not rewarded. Rather, Chhetri scored his third goal and the 4-1 final score in the 75th minute of the game.
| India | Tajikistan | ||||||
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Subrata Pal - Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh , Irungbam Surkumar Singh , Anwar Ali , Samir Naik - Steven Dias , NP Pradeep (35th Mehrajuddin Wadoo ), Climax Lawrence (86th Clifford Miranda ), P. Renedy Singh - Baichung Bhutia  (77th Sushilkumar Singh ), Sunil Chhetri Trainer: Bob Houghton |
Alisher Tuychiev - Dalerdzhon Tukhtasunov , Naim Nazirov (62. Samad Shohzukhurov ) Davronjon Ergashev , Eradzh Radzhabov , Sohib Savankulov - Anvar Norkulov , Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev , Yusuf Rabiev - Numondzhon Khakimov (75th Dzhakhongir Dzhalilov ) Dzhomikhon Muhidinov Coach: Pulod Kodirov |
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 1: 0 Sunil Chhetri (9th) 2: 0 Baichung Bhutia (18th) 3: 0 Sunil Chhetri (23rd) 4: 1 Sunil Chhetri (75th)
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3: 1 Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev (44th)
|
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Goalscorer list
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
Individual evidence
- ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Executive Committee meets in Sydney ( Memento from September 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), November 29, 2007
- ↑ goal.com: AFC Challenge Cup Venues Changed
- ↑ Sarath Pendyala: AFC Challenge Cup '08: Anwar: It Was not A match. Indian defender Anwar Ali said that the ground conditions did not permit football to be played .... In: Goal.com. August 7, 2008, accessed January 13, 2014 .
- ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Challenge Cup final postponed ( Memento from September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Challenge Cup final in Delhi ( Memento from September 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )